‘It’ll hurt them’

The charity bingo hall in the city is warning that there could be unforeseen side effects.

Blue Sky Bingo supports 62 groups and clubs in North Bay, who run programs for kids, seniors and everyone in between.

The charity administrator said a casino could take a big bite out of the $1.2 million the bingo raises for charity.

Mark Brown said that could change the kind of social programs people count on.

"It’ll hurt them in ways that they don’t even recognize or realize at this point," he said.

Brown spoke out against the casino last year when city council was making a decision, but said that fight was lost.

"Locally, it’s been made very clear to us that the fight is over, that the city has made its decision," he said.

Mayor McDonald said city council will vote again in the coming months, once more information about the proposed casino is known.

Stay tuned to CBC Radio One in Sudbury and northeastern Ontario all this week for more on this story. Our series "The Big Gamble" has been airing on Morning North. Parts of the series will also be on CBC’s afternoon show, Points North, as well as on the regional news.